Information note by our vice co-chair Hişyar Özsoy regarding the hunger strikes to support Ms. Leyla Güven and protest the isolation of Mr. Öcalan:
HDP Hakkari MP Ms. Leyla Güven, who was arrested on 31 January 2018 and has since been held under pre-trial detention in Diyarbakir E-type High Security Prison, has been on hunger strike since November 7 to protest the politics of isolation imposed on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan at the Imrali Island Prison.
Ms. Güven has started her hunger strike specifically saying, "It is known by everybody that the actor in the solution of current social problems of Turkey is Mr. Öcalan. Mr Öcalan has not been able to communicate with his family or lawyers since 2015. I want to emphasize that Mr. Öcalan, who has been held under severe isolation conditions, has a mission to ensure peace for the society of Turkey. In addition, the conditions under which he can fulfill his mission and role must be provided within the framework of national and international law. For these reasons, I declare that I have started on my own free will an indefinite hunger strike until a meeting with Mr. Öcalan is arranged."
This hunger strike has spread to several other prisons of Turkey for the same demand. On 29 November, several prisoners in Malatya E Type Prison have started an indefinite hunger strike with ten-day alternate shifts. On 1 December, 15 women prisoners in Kandıra F Type Prison, including the co-chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Ms. Sebahat Tuncel, have joined the indefinite hunger strike with ten-day alternate shifts. It seems that these hunger strikes to protest the isolation of Mr. Öcalan will further spread in prisons.
The hunger strikes to support Ms. Güven and protest the isolation of Mr. Öcalan are spreading outside the prisons as well. Up to now, two-day solidarity hunger strikes were carried out in Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Van, Adana and Urfa provinces on November 17-18. In early December many other provinces joined for a three-day hunger strike. However, on December 2, the police raided HDP's Mersin office, where HDP members and deputies wanted to start a hunger strike, and unlawfully detained 10 people.
Following the police raid and subsequent detention of HDP members, HDP MPs decided to go on a hunger strike for 3 days. Co-chair Ms. Pervin Buldan and 9 other MPs have started a two-day hunger strike at the parliament on December 4 to support Leyla Güven and protest the detentions. There are currently three-day solidarity hunger strikes by HDP MPs in provinces where the HDP has more than 2 MPs, such as Diyarbakir, Urfa, Batman, Van, and Istanbul.
Hişyar Özsoy
Vice Co-chair of HDP Responsible for Foreign Affairs
MP for Diyarbakır
4 December 2018